The present invention is a metal stamped wire safety crimp strain relief for an electrical part.
In the electrical industry it has been found very effective to be able to manufacture electrical parts in progressive stamping operations. A strip of metal can progressively pass through successive stamping steps to be formed into a desired electrical part. The electrical part can be left connected to the stamping strip. The stamping strip can then be used directly either off the original stamping machine or from a coil of attached stamped electrical parts and be fed into an automated crimping operation.
The progressive stamping operation alone provides many opportunities for economies. The art is well developed. Speed of production is one dividend of progressive stamping. Another dividend is that metal can be stamped to have strengths equivalent to solid electrical parts but economically produce effective metal electrical parts with less metal. Stamping also saves the cost of expensive manual labor. Progressive stamping enables automation of the making of the electrical parts.
Automated crimping has its foibles too. Wire can be crimped to electrical parts from a strip and be ready for further operations such as molding into plugs. The crimped wires can be placed in molds by automation also.
An important need for electrical parts connected to wires, leads, cord, and/or cables is wire safety and strain relief. The usability of electrical parts in plugs requires that wires provide electrical integrity and safety. Safety requires that the strands of wires are not likely to rip loose nor be exposed from plugs. Part of wire safety of connected electrical parts depends upon strain relief. The attaching crimp of the wire itself can protect the wire from strain in some measure. The molding of crimped electrical parts into a plug provides some further wire safety and strain relief. Wire safety and strain relief is always an important consideration in terms of integrity, cost and effectiveness of electrical parts and plugs.
Plugs on long cables are notoriously vulnerable to the temptation of being detached by a remote tug on the cable ultimately detaching wires and possibly exposing them. Such pulling is a great test for the best of wire safety systems and strain reliefs. The present invention provides a new and better, simple wire safety crimp. The creation of effective wire safety crimps and strain reliefs in a progressive stamping operation is very complex.
The present invention provides an effective efficient wire safety crimp on a stamping strip with a strain relief that can function in the environment of a progressive stamping operation, automated crimping and for use with molded plugs.